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Note Names and Review Wrap Up

Note Names of the Fretboard

Keep studying your fretboard note names. We just covered it, but let me reemphasize that knowing the note names on the fretboard will pay off every time you play. You will never regret knowing your note names well.

Practicing your note names can be just a few minutes of your daily practice routine. Read music. Think about note names, not fret numbers. Practice my note name recognition practice method. It's not hard. You just have to do it consistently.

Beginning Bass Review Wrap Up

Phew! We've covered a lot.

You should be proud of yourself for making it this far. A lot of people who start playing an instrument don't make it to this point. If you didn't give up yet, I predict a long, happy life of playing music ahead of you.

Now, you just have to keep going and keep up the momentum. You might even increase the intensity of your studying.

If you're not in a band yet or playing with others, you are long overdue. Don't cheat yourself of this key step toward being a good musician.

Get some kind of interaction going with other musicians. It doesn't have to be serious or very time-consuming. You will learn a lot about yourself and your strengths and weaknesses.

Yes, it might scare you. But, you can't learn everything just reading studybass. You need to make mistakes...in front of others. You need to cause train wrecks. Anyone you play with went through the same thing and will be understanding.

Your failings in real world situations will help prioritize what you practice.

What's Next?

With all that we've covered, we've only scratched the surface of scratching the surface! That might sound scary, but it should sound exciting!

So far I've laid out many of the basic building blocks of music and bass-playing. In story-telling terms, I've introduced you to the setting and the cast of characters. What happens next when telling a story?

In the next phase of lessons, we're going to start discussing how these "characters" relate to one another. That's what always happens next in a good story—relationships unfold.

It's no accident that some chords work together and some do not. It's no accident that some rhythms create excitement and others don't.

Remember, we are not learning rules about music. We are simply observing nature. We are learning what naturally pleases the human ear, how it is organized, and where to find it on the bass.